An Interview with a Teacher who has Hearing Loss

“The first time I wore hearing aids home I was making a salad and heard the sound of a cucumber being cut. I had no idea that even had a sound. Hearing technology has really allowed me to engage with the people in my life on a deeper level, it’s also allowed me to do my job much more effectively.”

We spoke to Georgina Brady who is a high school teacher with hearing loss for Hearing Awareness Week. Georgie chats about why Hearing Awareness Week is important to her, her experience with hearing loss and the importance of identifying a hearing loss for a child’s experience in the classroom.

What does Hearing Loss Awareness week mean to you?

Hearing Loss Awareness week is a reminder of the importance of clear communication with the people in your life. It has taken me a long time to really come to terms with my hearing loss and the effect it has on my life, and having a week to really talk about it is a nice reminder that there are many, many people in the same boat.

Could you tell us a little bit about your own experience with hearing loss?

My hearing loss is hereditary. Many members of my family on my father’s side were born with some form of hearing loss so it’s really all I’ve ever known. I wore big, chunky hearing aids in primary school and absolutely hated it. Decided I didn’t need them anymore in high school (absolutely not true) and battled on without them.

It took me completing 4 of my 5 years of my education degree to realize that I would need hearing aids if I wished to teach children. It’s been a real exploration since then. At times, I’m still quite in denial about my hearing, often pretending I’ve heard something and brushing things off, but I’m getting better at that.

How has hearing technology positively impacted your life?

The first time I wore hearing aids home I was making a salad and heard the sound of a cucumber being cut. I had no idea that even had a sound. Hearing technology has really allowed me to engage with the people in my life on a deeper level, it’s also allowed me to do my job much more effectively.

Have you ever experienced a child with hearing loss and/or undetected hearing loss in your years of teaching? Tell us a little bit about it.

I am not sure about undetected hearing loss as my classroom (and my teaching) are usually quite loud, so that has gone unnoticed.

I have worked with a student with hearing aids that wore the aids but did not use the accompanying microphone that goes with them for the teacher to wear. I have a sneaky suspicion she didn’t want to draw attention to herself in that way, as that was my high school experience. I made a very conscious effort to write things down and always speak directly to her.

With regards to learning in the classroom environment, how important is hearing for a student?

Incredibly important. Teachers can write everything down, but there are really valuable conversations that occur in the classroom that can maximize a students understanding. Some teachers are also very lecture-based, that will still speak softly no matter how many times you ask them to speak up.

What impact do you think undetected hearing loss has on a child’s learning?

Even missing only a few bits of pieces of information can leave gaps in a child’s understanding which really can affect how they understand a unit. Going undetected can be frustrating, particularly for students who really want to achieve but keep missing things.

As a teacher and somebody with hearing loss, what advice would you give parents around testing their children’s hearing loss?

I would advise that all children get their hearing tested before starting school and during their time at school. Whilst you may not notice anything at home, teachers do not always communicate in the same way that your family does. If there is any hearing loss, leaving it undetected may mean an academic disadvantage for your child.

Please, please also talk about it and normalise it. The population of people with hearing loss is more than we would expect. Wearing hearing aids should be normal as wearing glasses. The more kids are exposed to people with hearing loss, the more likely they are to embrace their hearing aids.